The Nextworld Invasion and the Death of Magic - 6. Chapter 6 - One More for the Road

The two green-skinned men began to stroll out into the high grass and flowers. They came to a little rise in the land, crested it, and found Nuji waiting for them in the valley on its other side. Her long, skinny arms were crossed over her bony chest, and her wide mouth was in an extreme frown.

“Hello, lads, how were the hateful inhabitants of Edgedale?”

Othri rolled his orange eyes and replied, “I defer to Tigath.”

“Each of them has suffered a tragedy,” Tigath stated, “and they’ve made a community where they were able to live away from whatever brought them pain. I feel bad for them.”

“Well listen,” Nuji interjected. “I’m hungry, and I have no idea what’s edible out here in this region.” She looked around the vast expanse of swaying plants. “I’m going to take my spell book for gathering food in the wild, which has been in your bag this whole time,” she added to Tigath, “and I’ll head off away from you lads to cast a few charms. I’ll be back in a bit.” Nuji grabbed the book, left the two bags with the men, and made her way off into the grass.

Tigath and Othri decided to climb the small rise again for a better look at their surroundings, and as they came to the top, they realized a young Urcai woman had just broken the tree line behind them and was heading in their direction. She saw them and waved; she looked very excited.

“What’s this then?” Othri asked the world at large.

“Who is that?” Tigath added. “I don’t remember seeing her in town.”

“She’s just a kid.”

“Maybe she needs our help.”

Othri let out a frustrated breath. “Are we adopting strays now?”

Tigath took Othri’s hands and stared into his orange eyes. “Othri,” he said in a sad voice, “almost everyone in Vuliburge is dead. Everyone we’ve ever known is probably dead. If that girl’s family was from Vuliburge, they’re likely all dead too.”

Tigath’s words were too much for the hardness Othri had been trying to maintain in his heart. He had been fighting against the agony he felt inside, for his misery was great, but he had refused to acknowledge it. All of Othri’s emotions came crashing down upon him. He had not wanted to admit the truth to himself.

“No,” he choked out as his eyes filled with tears.

Tigath wrapped his muscular man in a tight hug and whispered, “I love you. I’m so sorry everyone’s gone.”

“Everyone’s dead!” Othri wailed into Tigath’s shoulder.

“I know,” Tigath replied. “It’s so horrible. If I could murder each and every one of those terrible Humans, I would.”

Othri was dually surprised by Tigath’s words, first by their harshness, but also by how much comfort they brought. Tigath had a gentle spirit, but his anger in the moment was somehow soothing. Othri rubbed his eyes and sniffed hard as the young Urcai woman from Edgedale approached. A small sack was slung over her shoulder.

“Hi,” she said, and her voice cracked with nervousness. Her eyes were pale yellow, and they focused on Othri. “Are you okay?”

“Hello,” Tigath replied with a grin as Othri took a moment to compose himself, “can we help you?”

“I want to come with you!”

The young woman’s enthusiasm surprised both the men.

“You do?” Tigath asked.

Othri cleared his throat and added, “Why, aren’t you happy with the other sad Urcai?”

Tigath elbowed him, realized he almost hit the healing knife-wound, and quickly mouthed an apology before focusing on the new arrival. “I’m Tigath, and this is Othri. What’s your name?”

“Alydrael.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Alydrael. Do you want to tell us a little about yourself?”

Alydrael suddenly looked worried, and she began to pace.

“Hey,” Tigath said gently, “Alydrael, are you okay?”

Her pale yellow eyes darted from him to Othri and back again.

Tigath reached out to her. “Look, it’s okay. You don’t have to tell us anything you don’t want to.”

Alydrael tentatively placed her green hand in his.

“You’re okay,” Tigath reiterated.

Alydrael took a breath. “I was… I was born in Vuliburge, and I’ve been in Edgedale for about two years. I didn’t…” she hesitated. “I didn’t have a good childhood. I got sick before I hit puberty,” she explained. “Something happened to my kidneys, and they needed to be removed. The healthiest replacement the doctors could use came from my older brother, and he loved me; he was willing to give up one of his for me. I woke up after the surgery, but the doctors told me my brother had died on the operating table. The surgeons accidentally nicked a major artery, and they couldn’t stop the bleeding in time.”

“Oh, Alydrael,” Tigath replied, “I’m so sorry!”

She gave him a little smile. “I never got sick again, but my brother was dead, and my parents were inconsolable… and they were angry. They were bitter, and they blamed me. When I was healed from the transplant, less than six months after my surgery, they kicked me out.”

“Oh, honey!” Tigath placed his other hand on top of hers.

“It’s okay,” Alydrael mumbled.

Othri added, “Is that how you ended up in the village?”

“No, I went there later on,” Alydrael replied. “It was bad when I first got kicked out, but I was taken into a good group home pretty quickly, and I lived there for over two years.”

Othri spoke up again. “But why’d you go to Edgetown? What happened to you that made you hate the Rothians and Noktar?”

“Erm… It’s called Edgedale,” Alydrael informed him.

Othri could not help but to roll his orange eyes again.

“Do you want to tell us why you ended up leaving Vuliburge?” Tigath asked. “You don’t need to tell us if you don’t want to.”

Alydrael looked from Tigath to Othri and declared, “I don’t hate the Rothians or the Noktar,” but then her voice became smaller. “I was actually in a relationship with a Rothian woman. I was in love with her, but she turned out to be kind of mean. She started slapping me around, and eventually I had to move out of the group home where we met to get away from her. There were a few weeks where I was living on the streets, and that’s when some of the other people who you just met in Edgedale found me, and they told me they were leaving Vuliburge to be with only other Urcai people. I joined them. That was almost two years ago.” Alydrael gave Othri an imploring look. “I really don’t hate Rothians or Noktar.”

“Well, that’s good,” he replied, “because here comes our third traveling companion.” He pointed, and Tigath and Alydrael turned to see Nuji approaching from a little way off.

“One more for the road?” Nuji asked the men as she stepped up to the young Urcai woman who was much taller than she was. “I’m Nuji.” She extended a long arm with spidery fingers up toward Alydrael, who smiled and took it.

“My name’s Alydrael.”

Nuji eyed Alydrael’s bag. “You’re coming with us, huh?”

“If you’ll have me,” Alydrael replied in a breathier voice than she intended. Her pale yellow eyes were fixed on the little Rothian woman.

Nuji grinned with her wide mouth. “Then let’s get a move on!” She pulled out the map. “There’s a river that cuts through the land, and we should reach it by nightfall. We’ll catch our meals from its waters.”

The day’s journey was uneventful, and as the sun began to set, the quartet came to the waterway. It flowed from the lands in the north and veered east in the direction of the Yellow City.

“Wait here,” Nuji said, and she left the other three to go on ahead.

“Where’s she going?” Alydrael asked the men.

“To use her magic,” Tigath answered. “She’s building a fire and growing a protective enclosure for us to sleep in tonight.”

“It won’t take her long,” Othri added.

Alydrael was confused. “Why… did she need to go off alone? I remember Rothians casting spells in Vuliburge all the time when I used to live there.”

Tigath frowned. “Nuji had a tragic accident when she was younger, and she isn’t comfortable using magic around people.”

“Oh no, what happened?”

Tigath took Alydrael’s hand. “She should be the one to tell you.”

Yeah,” Othri agreed, “it’s not our story to share.”

The three of them saw her disappear behind a rise in the land, and they waited a few minutes.

As they approached and found Nuji again, Alydrael was confused by the magicked plant-structure. “What? How is this…” She stepped up to the interwoven shelter of narrow green tree trunks and brought a hand to it. She turned to Nuji. “You grew this with magic?”

Nuji’s very wide mouth was wearing a proud grin.

“I want to see next time you do it!” Alydrael declared. “I want to watch!”

Nuji’s face fell. “It’s too dangerous for you to be near me.”

“When you’re casting a plant-growing spell?” Alydrael questioned doubtfully. “What’s so scary about a flora charm?”

Nuji looked at the men, and then back to Alydrael. “I had a spell go bad when I was a teenager, and my teacher was killed.”

Alydrael scrunched up her face. “That doesn’t make any sense. I want to watch, and I guess I can stand back if you’re worried, but I’m watching next time you do this.” She waved at the temporary dwelling and added in a whisper, “It’s beautiful.”

Nuji focused on the river and her next task at hand, and within only a few minutes, she managed to catch a fish. She killed it, removed its guts, and set it above the flames.

The quartet sat on the ground around the campfire, but as Tigath slid the pack off his shoulders, he let out a loud sigh. He moaned his way down to a seated position, and he grunted as he landed on the earth. He stretched his arms overhead and groaned. Tigath then realized the two women were eyeing him.

“Wut?” he said rather lamely.

“Why are you acting like an old man?” Alydrael asked with a cheeky smirk and her pale yellow eyes sparkling.

Nuji snorted a laugh. “Yeah, Tigath, how old are you? I’m thirty-seven, and I realize I’m a Rothian and you’re an Urcai, but you must be at least a little younger than me, right?”

Tigath feigned shock and declared with a snicker, “I am the perfect age, thank you very much, twenty-eight, both Othri and I are.” He cackled at his actions, and the others could not help but to laugh along. “Ugh, it just feels good to be off my feet,” he added. “We’ve been walking for a long time.”

“We’re only a few days in!” Nuji replied with a laugh and wiping a tear of amusement from the corner of her eye. “And we’ve got a long way to go.” She turned to Alydrael. “Incidentally, how old are you, kid?”

“I’m nineteen.”

Othri chuckled and winced at the healing wound in his side. “I remember being nineteen,” he said wistfully.

“And how long have you two known each other?” Alydrael asked the men.

Tigath and Othri’s eyes locked, and Tigath smiled. “We met eight years ago, in a lastith class.”

The two women were both surprised by this information, and Nuji asked, “You’re practicing lastiths?”

“Wow, I know it’s common for our people to try it as kids,” Alydrael said to her fellow Urcai, “but I’ve never been to a class.”

“Can you show us some of the moves?” Nuji asked. “I’ve only seen it done a few times. But not you, Othri,” she added to him. “You still need to rest and heal.” She turned back to Tigath. “But please, Tigath, show us a little before we eat.”

Tigath jumped to his feet with more energy than when they all sat down a moment ago. “Dinner and a show, it is!” He let out another cackle, and the others laughed again. Tigath tied back his long purple hair, and he became more serious as he began to work through a few movements with his body. To Nuji and Alydrael, it looked like an advanced exercise routine. Tigath reached his arms overhead and raised one foot from the ground, standing on the opposite leg. He hinged at the hips and extended his arms out to the sides in an impressive balancing position. He then brought his palms to the earth, and to Nuji and Alydrael’s surprise, Tigath’s other foot lifted into the air as well, so he was balancing on only his hands! His complex moves showed significant flexibility and strength, and as he lowered his legs to a seated position he proclaimed, “Ta-da!” The others applauded, and Tigath could not help but to feel a little invigorated from his brief performance.

“Fish is almost done,” Nuji declared.

It was delicious.

After eating, Nuji redressed Othri’s wound.

Night fell, and the four travelers crawled into the leafy, open-sided enclosure Nuji had magicked to life.

“It’s hard to believe you charmed this into existence,” Alydrael marveled. “I am definitely watching you tomorrow.”

The group slept peacefully and awoke with the morning.

Nuji redressed Othri’s wound, and she caught another fish for the group’s breakfast. The day’s journey passed uneventfully, and in the evening, Nuji intended to head off to set up their camp, but Alydrael protested.

“I want to watch!” she demanded. “Just do it right here. Wait, look, we’ll move away from you.” Alydrael took three big steps backward and stopped.

“That’s not far enough,” Nuji replied.

Alydrael crossed her arms. “I’m not going any farther.”

“Then I’ll go.”

“No,” Alydrael said loudly, but she continued in a gentle voice. “I don’t know what you’re afraid of, Nuji, but you’re not going to kill us with a plant spell.” Alydrael stepped forward and knelt on the ground, so she was actually looking up at the much shorter Rothian woman, and Alydrael took Nuji’s long-fingered hand in hers. “I want to see it happen, Nuji. I want to watch you grow another shelter. I want to see your magic.”

Nuji was staring into Alydrael’s pale yellow eyes. “But what if something goes wrong?”

“I’m not leaving,” Alydrael insisted with a playful little smirk.

Nuji was surprised to feel herself blush, and she pulled away from the much younger Urcai woman. Without another word, Nuji strode a few paces away, squatted close to the ground, and brought her fingertips to the earth. She began speaking in the mystical language the other three could not translate.

Multiple shoots sprouted from the soil, and Alydrael gasped in wonder. They grew against and around each other, twisting and weaving a protective three-walled shelter of living plants. The outer walls and floor that would serve as their bed burst with countless soft leaves.

Alydrael rushed forward and entered the magic structure. “Nuji, you’re incredible!”

“Hey!” Nuji barked, and she stood up from the ground. “I wasn’t finished yet!”

Alydrael was giggling in wonder, and Nuji felt confused by the young woman’s reaction.

She repeated herself a little flatly. “I wasn’t finished.”

“Are you finished now?!” Alydrael asked with a beaming smile. She was ecstatic.

Nuji mumbled, “Yeah, I guess so.”

“Okay, well no one died,” Alydrael declared, “and your magic is more spectacular than anything I’ve ever seen!”

Nuji wanted to shift the focus from her. “Shall I catch us a fish now?” she asked more weakly than she intended.

She did, and the group ate their dinner. They fell asleep to the sound of the river.